Holsters



E. H. HIER April 23, 196s HoLsTERs Filed May 1, 1967 raf-(ZZ INVENTOR EDWIN H. HIER ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,379,349 HOLSTERS Edwin Henry Hier, 9991 West Parkway, Detroit, Mich. 48239 Filed May 1, 1967. Ser. No. 635,214 3 Claims. (Cl. 224-2) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A belt-attached holster for supporting a pistol in a partially concealed position inside the waist band of the user. The belt engaging section of the holster has a rigid, hook-shaped metal strip which engages the lower edge of the belt. A ilexible strap folds over the top edge of the belt to provide a connection between the hook-shaped metal strip and the pistol-receiving pouch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (l) Field of the nventi01z.-This invention relates to belt-attached article holders and more specifically to a holster having a hook-shaped belt-engaging portion permitting the holster to be supported within the waist band of the user with the pistol in a partially concealed position.

(2) Description of the prior rim-Conventionally, holsters for hand guns comprise a pair of flat leather sections stitched together and folded to form an open topped pouch for receiving the hand gun which is normally received therein with the barrel directed downwardly. Leather has a rough flesh side and an opposite smooth side. Thus, the two sections of leather are conventionally stitched together so that the smooth side of each of the sections is exposed and with the rough flesh side hidden. In addition, a conventional holster has an elongated strap provided with a snap connector which permits the strap to be looped around the belt and attached thereto.

It is often desirable that the user wear the holster in a concealed position within the waist band of the trousers supported by the belt. However the smooth exposed surface of the holster permits the holstered weapon to shift position as the user performs various body movements.

The broad purpose of the present invention is to provide a holster which can be readily concealed within the waist band of the wearer without shifting its position and which has a novel form of belt engaging hook.

SUMMARY The preferred embodiment of the present invention, which will be subsequently described in greater detail, takes the form of a single flat section of leather having a lower portion folded to form a pistol-receiving pouch. The rough tiesh side of the leather forms the exterior surface of the pouch. This arrangement provides a two-fold advantage. First, only a single section of leather is required so that the bulk of the holster is reduced to a minimum, and secondly when the pouch is inserted within the waist band of the trousers, the rough exterior surface grips the waist band and helps to maintain the holster in place.

An elongated strap extends upwardly from the open top of the pouch. A narrow transverse groove in the strap provides a fold line at a position corresponding to the upper longitudinal edge of the users belt and permits the strap to be folded downward. A flat, rigid, metal hookshaped section is attached to the strap adjacent its free end. A thin leather covering is stitched to the end of the strap to encase the hook-shaped section. The covered hook-shaped section slips up and over the lower longitudinal edge of the belt of the wearer with the strap folding over the top edge to provide a secure and detachable connection between the pouch and the belt. This novel 3,379,349 Patented Apr. 23, lSGS arrangement, in addition to its inherent reliability and simplicity, provides a quick and easy means for supporting a hand gun in a concealed position within the waist band of the trousers with a minimum of bulk.

Obviously, the beh-attached features of this novel form of holster can be incorporated with other forms of belt attached article holders which provide a means for supporting a tool.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a belt-attached holster having a belt-engaging portion comprising a rigid, hook-shaped section engageable with the lower longitudinal edge of the belt and a strap extending from the hook-shaped section and over the upper longitudinal edge of the belt to form a supporting connection with the pistol-receiving pouch of the holster.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a concealed holster formed of a section of leather with the esh side exposed so that the holster is maintained in position as the rough flesh surface engages the clothing of the wearer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved concealed holster for a pistol which is arranged within the waist band of the user and having a hook-shaped belt engaging section.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a belt-attached article holder having a first section adapted to engage an article, a rigid hook section formed to receive a supporting belt encircling a body and with the bight of the hook engaging the lower longitudinal edge of the belt, and a exible strap extending from the shank of the hook over the upper longitudinal edge of the belt and forming a supporting connection for the article engaging section.

Still 4further objects and advantages of the present invention will readily occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains upon reference to the following detailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a holster illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the holster of FIGURE 1 attached to a belt with the pistol-receiving pouch concealed within the waist band of the user;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along lines 33` of FIG- URE 2 and illustrating a pistol supported by the preferred holster;

FIGURE 4 illustrates a step in forming the hool shaped belt engaging portion;

FIGURE 5 is a section taken along lines '5 5 of FIG- URE 4; and

FIGURE 6 illustrates the metal strip bent into the hook-shaped cross section.

DESCRIPTION OYF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now referring to the drawings, a preferred holster 10 comprises a single section of leather having a flat lower portion folded to form a pistol-receiving pouch 12 with the opposite edges of the pouch joined as at 1e by stitching or the like. Preferably, the pistol-receiving pouch I12 has a relatively wide open top and an open end at the bottom to accommodate the barrel of a conventional pistol I6.

The leather forming the pouch 12 is folded such that the smooth surface 18 forms the interior side of the pouch 12 and the rough flesh side 20 of the leather forms the exterior side of the pouch 12.

The holster 19 includes an elongated strap 22 extending upwardly and away from the open top of the pouch 12. A transverse groove 24 formed in the rough surface of the strap 22; provides a fold line intended to be bent over the upper longitudinal edge of a supporting belt.

That portion of the strap 2.2 between the groove 24 and the pouch 12 provides what will be referred to as a connection between the pouch l2 and a belt-engaging porn tion 26 of the holster 19.

The belt-engaging portion 26 includes an extension 28 of the strap 22, a relatively rigid, fiat metal strip 30 and a thin leather cover section 32.

The metal strip is bent into a generally hook-shaped portion 34 with the distance between the bight of the hoolcsshaped portion Se and the groove 2i?, accommodating the Width of a belt.

Referring to FIGURES 4, and 6, the belt-engaging portion 26 is preferably formed with the metal strip 3U having a generally rectangular configuration and stitched between the cover section 32 and the extension 28 so as to be concealed from View. The covering 32 is stitched with its smooth surface out so that both of the inner and outer exposed surfaces of `the belt engaging portion 26 are smooth. The `metal strip 3G is then bent into a generally U-shaped configuration to form the hook-shaped portion 34. It can be seen that the exible strap 22 can be folded about the groove .24 so that its inner surface abuts the outer surface of the free end of the hoolcshaped portion 3d to form a closed loop.

VNow referring to FIGURES 2 and 3, the holster 10 iS illustrated as being attached to a belt 36 which supports the Waist yband 38 of a pair of trousers. The pouch 12 is arranged on the inner side of the waistband 38 so that only the butt of the pistol 16 is exposed to view. It can be seen that by slipping the hook-shaped portion 34 up and over the lower longitudinal edge of the belt 36 with the free end of the extension 28 between the inner side of the belt 36 and the waist band 33 that the strap 22 can be folded over the upper longitudinal edge of the belt 36 and behind the waist band 38 with the pouch 12 depending downwardly therefrom. Thus, the only part of the holster l@ which is exposed to view is the belt engaging portion 26.

By folding the flat section of leather forming the pouch 12 such that the esh side 2i) is exposed, the pouch 12 tends to grip the waist band 3S of the trousers and maintain the pistol 16 in position.

Although I have described but one embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that various changes and revisions can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. .A belt-attached holster for a pistol comprising:

(a) a pistol-receiving pouch formed of a section of leather folded into a closed configuration with an upper open end for receiving the barrel of a pistol inserted therein;

y(b) a belt-engaging-portion for supportably attaching said pouch to a supporting belt, comprising:

(1) said pouch having an elongated flexible, ex-

tension directed upwardly from the open end of said pouch, then downwardly in a first reverse 'bend away from said pouch and then upwardly in a second reverse bend toward said pouch to terminate in a free end, the portion of said extension between said first and second reverse bends having a length accommodating the width of said Isupporting belt;

(2) a flat, rigid, hook-shaped element disposed adjacent the inner surface of said extension, said hook-shaped element having a single bend adjacent the second reverse bend of said extension with one end terminating short of the free end of said extension and its opposite end terminating between said tirs-t and second reverse bends.

(3) a cover section attached to the surface of said extension and adjacent the perimeter of said hook-shaped element to enclose and retain said hook-shaped element in position so that said belt engaging portion is attachable to a supporting belt with the free end of said extension and said one end of said hook-shaped element being disposed adjacent the inner surface of said supporting belt, the second reverse bend of said extension receiving the lower longitudinal edge of the belt and the first reverse bend of said extension flexibly extending over the upper longitudinal edge of said belt and down- Iwardly as a supporting connection for said pouch.

2. The holster as defined in claim 1, wherein said ex- -tension is formed of a single ply of leather and said first reverse bend is defined by a transverse groove in said extension.

3. A holster as defined in claim 1 'wherein said pistolreceiving pouch is formed of a single ply section of leather folded linto a closed configuration with the flesh side of the leather forming the external surface of said pistol-receiving pouch. 

